The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-07-27
Mashed to Death on the Track.

New YORK, July 2l.-One of those.
frightful accidents which come with ap.
spalling suddenness; where there is 20.
apparent reason why they could not be
easily avoided; took place this morning
on the Erie Railroad, betweensAllendale
and Hohokus. The catastrophe was at
tended with appalling loss of life, and
over dozen mangled bodies on the track
attested the neglect of some one whose
duty it should have been to give warning
of the impending disaster. A gang Of
Italian laborers were at work blasting on
the railroad a little distance from sharp
curve, about three-fourths of mile
above Hohokus. The Chicago express,
which was due an hour before, had not
arrived, and these men, whose foreman
should havegiven warning whistle when
the train was approaching the sharp
curve, were busy at work, unconscious of
the terrible fate which was in store for
them. At a quarter-past Z. o'clock train
No. IL, the express, which was due The
hour previous, rushed round the curve,
before the men had the slightest warning,
and dashed through them, killing twelve
or fifteen on the spot and woundiDg
many others. The shrieks of the victims
were heart rending, and when the train
slowed up the track presented sicken-
ing sight, being covered with mangled
bodies, the rails spattered with blood and
broken limbs and pieces of ragged flesh
scattered in all directions. Some of the
bodies were mangled beyond description
and crushed out of all semblance of hu.
manity. To most of the victims death
must have been instantaneous, but some
of them appeared to be yet quiYering
and life ebbing away whenathe train was
brought to stantlstill. There was only
fifteen minutes delay, and the train,
which had wrought so much disaster,
proceeded on its way from Allendale to
Hohokus. The question of who is to
blame is yet to be settled, but it is
claimed thatit was the duty Of the FORE
man of the gang of laborers to watch for
approaching trains at dangerous curve,
andthat he must have neglected to give
the warning whistle.
Mr.. w. s. Hudson, passenger on 8
local train which was behind the Chicago
express, in conversation with reporter,
described the scene as one of the most
sickening that could be witnessed.
"Along the tracks," he said, "were arms,
legs, trunks, and other parts of bodies,
and the tracks fora long distance we're
slippery with blood. The disaster must
have taken place with such appalling
suddenness that the men did not know
until the train was down on them. The
conductor of the train on which I rode
said that the train hands Of the express
we're not to blame. He believed that
the foreman of the gang was responsible
for the disaster by neglecting to give
warming"
s Another account of the terrible acci.
dent, says: y
"About one hundred Italians we're at
work OH the road bed when the train
came along and the Italians stepped on
to the other track to allowit to pass, but
just then the Chicago express thundered
down on them at the rate of fifty miles
an hour and literally moved its way
through, singing the unfortunates right
and left, tearing legs and arms and heads
off and grinding the flesh into the road
bed for 200 or 300 feet. So fierce was
the shock that, although the engine
struck nothing but human beings, the
powerful COW catcher was torn, twisted
and broken into pieces. Some of the
Italians were crowded against the rocks
in a very narrow space. The engineer
of the express train reversed his engine
and was coming to stop, when the
passengers told him to go ahead.
Looking back they saw the unipjured
Italians acting like maniacs. They were
yelling, gesticulating and tearing their
clothes. Some were kneeling and others
dashing about in the middle of the
ghastly pile of'mangled bodies. When
they saw the train stopping they made
rush forait, and had they reached it
they undoubtedly would have murdered
the engineer, fireman and conductor.
For this reason it was deemed best to
come on to Jersey City, where the engi-
neer and conductor we're closeted with
the officers of the road, and away from
where they could be interviewed"
Mr.. March, the padrone who supplied
the Erie Railroad Company with its
Italian laborers, arrived early at Pster.
son. He identified the men by means of
their numbers, which are written on
slips and carried by the men in little tin
boxes. Six or seven hundred dollars
was found on the persons of the dead
men, and was taken by March to be
handed by him to the Italian consul at
New York in trust for their relatives.
March's action was the source of indig.
nation to the other Italians, who wanted
to take charge Of the money themselves.
They would have mobbed him, only for
the timely interference Of two policemen.
A Boy Drowned g
GREENv1LLE, July 21.-While bath
ing in Reedy River near the ice factory